


i smile (whenever you're around)

by nightinjae



Series: Let Me Be Your Love [8]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, as usual my tags are all over the place, kind of, they kind of get together, wonpil believes in soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 04:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18683743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightinjae/pseuds/nightinjae
Summary: He wonders what kind of ending they'll have.Maybe, he thinks,maybe it's a bit too early to think of endings.He hopes it's a good one anyway.





	i smile (whenever you're around)

**Author's Note:**

> hi
> 
> the compact live did this to me
> 
> anyway as usual i strongly believe this makes zero sense and its all over the place but despite that i hope you still enjoy reading through it because i somehow enjoyed writing it, its my word vomit and im just glad i managed to scrape past my writers block so *cue confetti*
> 
> also i almost barely edit my work so :DD

Soulmates.

Wonpil believes in soulmates.

Soulmates whose hearts are intertwined, strings of fate all tangled together, messy but flowing in harmony . Soulmates where two people share an invisible yet precious bond that couldn't possibly be broken by anything or anyone.

He believes in soulmates, endlessly looking for his other half and waiting to hear that metaphorical little twinkle of a bell when he does meet them. Waiting for that one moment where time slows once their gazes meet, souls calling for one another, waiting to complete each other.

He believes in soulmates — he just hasn't met them yet.

\---

Wonpil walks around the corner, looking for a certain shop where Dowoon told him they should meet. He sighs, wondering if the directions he's been taking were the right ones  in the first place.

"This...doesn't look right." He looks up, frowning as he sees that it was the sign for a music shop. He walks in anyway, the bell above chiming and signalling the employee at the counter of his entrance.

"Good afternoon. How can I help you today?" Wonpil looks up as he hears the voice of the employee, smiling as he sees the warm smile on the boy.

"Hi, I'm actually waiting for a friend. I don't think he told me the right directions so is it okay if I stay here for a bit?" Wonpil smiles sheepishly, both hands holding onto his phone.

"Sure." The employee laughs. "I hope you two manage to meet up. What did he say the shop was anyway?"

"He didn't tell me." Wonpil's shoulders drop and the employee hums amusedly. He takes this time to look around the shop, eyes grazing the guitars and basses lining the walls, cellos, violins, woodwinds, to the drums in the center of the shop, and the pianos in the far end of the room across where he stood. He breathes in and notices the slight hint of wood—

"Do you make your own guitars?" Wonpil asks, eyes snapping back to the employee with wide eyes. The boy stares back at him with eyes equally as wide before they crinkle with laughter, but Wonpil keeps staring. _His laugh sounds...nice._

"Kinda. We haven't put any of them up for sale yet but we do have a workshop in the back." The employee shifts his weight, nodding his head to the door behind him before leaning more against the counter in front of him. "How did you even notice that?"

"I don't know, I noticed a bit of like...a woody smell. The smell of freshly shaved off wood and a bit of polish."

"Wow. That's a really good sense of smell."

"Maybe." Wonpil smiles and looks back down at his phone that lights up.

_**4:59 pm** _

**woon**

hyung ?? did you find it

i have to do something

stay there for awhile please

sorry love u ill make it up to you

**pil**

dowoon

what shop are you even talking about

woon

woon???

oh my god

dowoon

 

Wonpil groans, throwing his head back and sighing after. The employee looks at him confused and slightly worried (and amused but Wonpil doesn't want to acknowledge that).

"Is...everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just that my friend stopped replying without even telling me if I'm in the right place or not." Wonpil walks over to one of the pianos and sits down with his back facing the keys. The employee hums.

"Well, you can stay here in the meantime."

"Are you sure? How about your customers?"

"What customers?" The boy laughs again. "It's fine. We don't get a lot of customers around this time."

"I see."

Silence settles over them and Wonpil turns around to face the piano, eyes raking through the ivory and he lifts a hand to rest on them.

"Do you play?"

Wonpil jumps at the voice, looking behind him and the boy laughs again. "Who, me?"

"No, the guy sitting next to you." The employee rolls his eyes and sighs. "Duh, who else?"

Wonpil pouts but truthfully, he was trying to fight back a smile. "Maybe." He turns back and plays a few notes, humming along.

"You seem like you do." The employee clears his throat and Wonpil looks back at him again. _He really needs a name to call the boy—_  "Professionally, I mean. You seem like you're a really talented pianist."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's the posture. Or the fingers. You know how people say people with long and pretty fingers are likely to be good at the piano." The employee — Wonpil _really_  needs a name — says.

"Pff, anyone can play the piano if they practice and actually put time on playing." Wonpil says, turning around again to face the boy. "I'm Wonpil, by the way. Just in case you were—I don't know—wondering."

"Oh." The boy chuckles. "Well, I guess I was. I'm Jaehyung, or Jae for short, just in case _you_ were wondering."

"Jae, huh. Nice to meet you, Jae. Thank you for letting me stay in your store. Hopefully you won't get in trouble, just in case I'm actually scaring away your customers." Wonpil smiles widely. His phone rings as soon as he says that and the boy — Jae — speaks up again.

"You should take that. Maybe it's your friend finally coming to collect you." Jae smiles and Wonpil pouts, pulling out his phone.

"What, don't you appreciate my company?" Wonpil retorts, answering the call and not letting Jae reply.

 _"Hyung! Where are_ _you? I thought you were already here?_ "

"Idiot, you didn't give me clear directions. You didn't even tell me what shop I'm supposed to be looking for!"

 _"Oh."_ Dowoon's sheepish laughter crackles through the line. " _Sorry, hyung. So, where are you?_ "

"In a music shop a few blocks from the apartment. Why?"

" _What?! That's so far off the route I gave you!_ "

"Well, maybe if you gave me a name, I could've used my GPS."

" _Okay, okay. Come outside, I'll meet you halfway._ "

"You owe me, Yoon." He says, hanging up. His eyes find Jae's almost as soon as he pockets his phone and for some reason, he feels a warmth creeping up his cheeks as he sees Jae smiling at him again.

"I'm guessing you're off on another journey?"

"Yup." He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Thank you for letting me stay, Jae."

"Anytime. I enjoyed your company anyway, it's not everyday I get to chat with supposed customers." Jae sits down on the chair behind him, letting out a sigh. "You should come by again some time, Wonpil. Maybe play a bit of piano or something."

"I just might." Wonpil manages to say and he grins. "I'll see you around, Jae."

\---

"So you're telling me, you met a cute guy, talked to him while I was gone, grew fond of his laugh, and maybe somewhat promised to come back and play the piano."

"First of all, I didn't say I found him cute—"

"You were trying to hold back a stupid smile while you were telling me about him. You even noticed how his hair flops over his left eye specifically, how he blinks _cutely_ , how his cheek pockets show up when he smiles—"

"I said all that?"

"And more." Dowoon adds and Wonpil opens and closes his mouth, trying to find the words to defend himself.

"W-well—" Wonpil tries but Dowoon rolls his eyes and speaks before he manages to get another word out.

"Hyung, maybe it was fate that you got lost."

Wonpil rolls his eyes. "Shut up, Dowoon."

"You'll never know, hyung." Dowoon shrugs, sipping on the mug set in front of him as he averts his attention back to his laptop, trying to finish writing a paper he really needs to pass tomorrow or he's probably going to fail that class. Wonpil just came along to make sure he doesn't slack off and play League instead or something.

"Whatever."

"You like him. You should get to know him better maybe?" Dowoon says, eyes not leaving the screen. "I mean all you really know is his name, plus the ten other observations you got from the 15 minutes you chatted."

"What, do you think I should just strut into the shop, sit down in front of the piano and ask him to play 20 questions?"

"Not a bad idea."

Wonpil pouts, grabbing his drink. "Whatever."

"Just do it, hyung."

\---

It was 3 in the morning when Wonpil decides to work on the project given to him in that 24 hour cafe down the street, his body powered by a whole cup of Americano and now a cup of mocha frappe. The sugar and caffeine were slowly kicking in, his gaze lost in the raindrops gliding down the window.

He adjusts the sleeve of his hoodie, making sweater paws and he tucks his hands under his thighs, trying to warm them up. He looks back at his screen, the cursor blinking at him rather mockingly and he frowns.

The door swings open but Wonpil kept his eyes on the screen, trying to wrack through his brain for whatever he was supposed to put in.

"Hey Wonpil."

Wonpil looks up after hearing the familiar voice, to be surprised by the presence of Jae who looked like he was also about to pull an all-nighter based on the laptop bag slung across his shoulder along with the backpack on the other. He takes a moment to reply, but his eyes widen once his brain finally manage to catch up.

"Jae!" He removes his hands from where they were hiding. "Hey, it's nice to see you. Are you here to work as well?"

"Yeah." Jae yawns behind his hand, shaking his head a bit afterwards. "I fell asleep earlier so I'm here to pay the price." He looks at Wonpil, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Can I—"

"Oh, sure." Wonpil says before Jae manages to even complete the question, standing up a bit to arrange a few of his papers that have scattered on the table. Jae gives him a smile, putting down his bags on the chair across him.

"Thanks. I'll just order something." Wonpil gives him a nod and he walks toward the counter.

_You like him, you should get to know him better maybe?_

Wonpil stares blankly at nothing as he hears Dowoon's voice in his head, rubbing his face afterwards. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Wonpil peeks at Jae through his fingers. "What did you order?"

"Coffee and some cake. I bought you one too, as courtesy." Jae sets up his laptop and places down a few notebooks beside it as he waits for it to boot up.

"You didn't have to."

"You don't like cake? I could get you something else if you don't." Jae pauses his movements to blink at Wonpil and the latter keeps his face hidden on his hands to hide the blush that suddenly found its way to his cheeks.

"N-no, it's not that. I like cake but you didn't have to buy me anything."

"It's okay. I wanted to."

Wonpil doesn't reply aside from a little thank you, still looking at Jae through his fingers. The barista calls his name and the taller looks up before smiling at Wonpil, standing up and fetching the tray.

Wonpil sighs, shaking his head and looking back at his laptop while Jae returns, coffee and pastry in hand. He sets it down and Wonpil helps him, keeping the papers away from the water condensed on the side of the cup. Jae mutters a small thanks, taking the tray back to the counter before sitting back down with a sigh.

“What are you working on, if you don’t mind me asking?” Wonpil speaks up as Jae takes the first sip of his drink. The taller’s eyes light up and he makes a noise, taking another gulp before setting it down and clapping his hands together. _Cute._

“I’m composing!” Jae answers enthusiastically, startling Wonpil. The latter smiles and blames it on the contagious smile Jae was wearing. “It’s my final project before finals and soon after that, graduation.”

“Composing...as in songs?”

“Yeah. I’m doing 3 tracks and I'm finally currently on my third." Jae navigates his laptop for a while, Wonpil keeping his gaze on him.

"Honestly, I've been in a block and I'm getting really frustrated because deadline is nearing and my tracks are nowhere near perfect and my lyrics are incomplete, and I'm just—" Jae sighs, eyes widening with his hands gesturing wildly, portaying the frustration he was feeling. "I don't know anymore, Pil."

"Will you let me listen to them?"

"They... aren't done. I don't—" Jae looks at him, eyes roaming Wonpil's face for a hint of... judgement, or something. Wonpil doesn't know but the taller sighs again, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't usually let anyone listen to what I make until they're complete and perfect and—you know what, just—come here." He pulls out headphones from his bag and Wonpil drags his chair nearer to Jae's. The smaller of the two peers over the laptop, which displayed a window that only contained 7 tracks, some of them labelled "nope" and Wonpil wonders if Jae would let him listen to those too.

"I said I don't let anyone listen to them but here I am, about to make you, someone who is almost still a complete stranger to me, listen to them at quarter from 3 in the morning. No offense about the stranger thing, I actually barely know you, Pil." Jae shrugs, handing the headphones to Wonpil who failed in holding back his chuckles.

"I barely know you too, but I let you sit on my table so I guess we're kind of in a quits here."

"Fair point." Jae reaches over and lets the cursor hover over one of the files. Wonpil follows it with his eyes, trying to read the title but it was in English.

"What's this one called?"

"This one's called Raindrops. It's composed by me and a friend and I really liked the way it turned out so—" Jae taps the touchpad and a new window opens. "I'll just play it."

The song opens with a bit of synth, if he isn't wrong, accompanied with a light humming. And suddenly a piano melody replaces it, along with a voice singing English lyrics Wonpil can't understand but that didn't matter because he immediately pinpointed that this was Jae's voice singing. His eyes dart over to Jae, who kept his eyes trained on the screen and refusing to meet Wonpil's gaze.

A bit of percussion enters, and Wonpil hears Jae's voice clearly, melodic and soft and warm and a lot of things, Wonpil can't really form a coherent description as he was getting lost in the song — in Jae's voice and he was definitely in awe. It was as if Wonpil understood the meaning of the lyrics despite not being able to understand the words.

A new voice starts singing, foreign yet soothing in its own rough timbre and Wonpil exhales. He assumes this was the friend that helped Jae and he marvels at the fact that their voices worked well together, the softness of Jae's voice mingling with the other's deeper tone and Wonpil really starts to understand the meaning behind the title of the song. He finds his gaze trailing down the window where raindrops dripped down the glass, feeling cold and warm at the same time.

The chorus starts and Wonpil holds back a gasp, body swaying along to the beat with his hands holding on to the headphones resting on his ears.

He doesn't hear the giggle Jae emits, rather he feels it but decides against looking up, wary that Jae may go back to being nervous and rigid so he just enjoys the song, the melody, the slight pause during the bridge, the way Jae's voice slightly gets faster before saying _but you're beautiful_  — Wonpil _swears_ he could hear the smile Jae was wearing while he sings this part — and the chorus starts again and it feels like hearing the chorus for the first time again.

The song was over before Wonpil knew it, and he opens his eyes (when did he close them?) and his first reaction was to look at Jae with wide eyes. "Wow."

"So? How—uh—how was it?"

"Beautiful."

"Really now?" Jae closes the window and shifts in his seat. "Don't lie to me. I know it's a bit rough—"

"I'm not lying." Wonpil crosses his arms across his chest after removing one side of the headphones from his ear. "I managed to understand and feel the meaning of the song despite not actually knowing the meaning of the lyrics, and I think that's one way of telling that it's a good song. You managed to convey a message — feelings, emotions, imagery even. That really says something, Jae."

Jae opens his mouth to say something but Wonpil wasn't done. "Also, your voice was really nice."

"Nah, Sungjin's is better." Jae uses the touchpad again and hovers over another song, not leaving time for Wonpil to argue. "Here's the next song. I really don't have a title for it right now but I named it coffee and better days since it's the lyrics that kept popping up so—I'll shut up now."

Wonpil frowns at Jae's uncertainty of his own work but doesn't say anything, opting to listen to the song as Jae hit play. The song was purely acoustic this time, the only accompaniment being an acoustic guitar. It starts slow and mellow, Jae's voice once again coming in and riding the flow of the song.

The guitar switches up its strumming as the song enters the prechorus and somehow, Wonpil starts to feel something pull at his heartstrings — something akin to nostalgia and Wonpil once again lets himself gets lost in the song as it reaches the chorus, Jae's voice growing powerful and dripping with emotion that the younger can't help but feel moved by it.

"Are you—" Wonpil looks at Jae after hearing his voice, albeit muffled through the song and the headphones. "Are you—are those tears?"

"Huh?" Wonpil pulls back the headphone from one of his ears and Jae points at his eyes. "Your eyes are glossy."

"Oh." Wonpil reaches over to pause the song, bringing his sweater paws up to his eyes to soak up the tears before they fell. "The song was too good."

"No way." Jae shakes his head, a smile on his face. "But actually, I did feel a bit emotional recording this."

"Your voice is amazing."

"It's not—"

"Jae."

"Next track, very incomplete, I only started making this thing about—" He glances at the clock on the corner of the screen, muttering to himself before speaking up again. "6 hours ago. Right before my nap." He explains, making air quotation marks as he said nap. Wonpil laughs.

"What's it called?" The smaller asks, dropping the topic as Jae seems to dodge it every time. He wonders why, but shakes the thought away. _Maybe save that for another time, Wonpil._

"I don't know yet. I don't even know why I'm about to let you listen to it. It barely has substance, I haven't thought out lyrics for it and all that." He chuckles bitterly.

Wonpil hums and give back the headphones to Jae who wears it, rocking in his seat before stilling. "I should let you work then."

"Maybe." Jae smiles, somewhat shyly but Wonpil was probably just imagining it. "You should work on yours too."

"Yeah, maybe. But my paper on music theory can wait. My brain is starting to get all muddled by the coffee and your songs are already getting stuck in my head." Wonpil drags his chair back to his side of the table, resting his head on the cool surface of the glass wall.

"Music theory?"

"Yup. Music theory."

"Wait, did you just say my songs—"

"Yup." Wonpil answers before letting Jae finish and the taller's face scrunches up in disbelief and Wonpil actually laughs. "Why does it seem like you don't believe me?"

"Because I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because I just know."

Wonpil stays silent at that, studying the unreadable expression that suddenly replaced the disbelief on Jae's features. _He's actually really pretty—_

"But I'm telling the truth." Wonpil argues, sounding as sincere as he can, his eyes soft and his smile genuine. He sits up straight again and Jae makes a noise after glancing at Wonpil, the latter laughing and relieved to have gotten rid of the weird expression. "Let me say you're doing great. Accept the compliment, Jae."

"You know—" Jae slides the headphones around his neck, sitting back on his chair. "I feel like we are both not gonna be productive tonight so maybe we should just — I don't know, talk? Chat? Maybe get to know each other?"

"Hey, I was thinking of that too!" Wonpil replies enthusiastically. His eyes find the neglected plate of cake Jae had bought him so he closes his laptop and sets it aside before pulling the plate towards him.

"Glad to know we're on the same page here." Jae laughs, turning in his chair to rummage through his bag again, this time taking out a pair of rose gold wire rimmed glasses and perching them on his nose, shaking away the hair that found their way to poke his eyes.

"Should I start? I want to start." Wonpil says, grabbing the small fork on the side and letting it slide through the slice of cake. _Ooh, it's triple chocolate._

"Be my guest, I guess." Jae leans back on his chair, watching Wonpil shove the sweet in his mouth before he starts to speak.

"Okay. So I'm Kim Wonpil, 23, taking up music for college despite everyone's warnings and opinions against it," Wonpil grasps for his drink, wincing as the chocolate sticks to his throat. "Also need water so give me a second." Jae smiles, letting Wonpil take his tumbler out and gulp down the water. "Okay, so my birthday is on April 28, and I guess that's most of the basics covered?"

Jae hums in reply. "I'm guessing it's my turn?" Wonpil nods, taking another bite of cake. "I'm Park Jaehyung, 25, also in the music department but I guess you already knew that. My birthday is on September 15, and I'm most definitely your hyung. Also, I guess I should say I grew up in the west. Of the world. Not West Korea, I don't even know if that's a thing. "

"So, should I call you hyung?"

"Do you want to call me hyung?"

"What kind of question is that?" Wonpil laughs, making the taller laugh as well. "I guess I will. Occasionally."

"Occasionally?"

"Yup. I'll call you hyung when I feel like it."

"Okay." Jae laughs, taking his own drink and sipping on it. The lull in the conversation isn't awkward, almost as if they were both taking their time filing away the newfound information about the other.

Wonpil looks at Jae, a question in his mind. _Are you straight, Park Jaehyung?_  "I have a younger brother." He says instead. "He wants to take up music too but our parents wants him to go more... academic, I guess? Anyway, I think he'd really like your music, it's the kind we listen to."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Some people say we could pass as twins with how similar we are to each other." A fond smile finds his way to Wonpil's face, now looking down at the table.

"That's cute." Jae pauses. "What's his name?"

"Seungmin."

"Your family comes up with cute names."

"What?"

"I mean, Wonpil sounds cute. Seungmin sounds cute too. And I mean, they fit because you're cute, I won't deny that. I'm not blind." Jae pauses again, and Wonpil doesn't interrupt. He was also a bit taken aback from the sudden... compliment?

"I'm not usually this talkative, I swear. I'm blaming it on both the coffee and the time and the lack of sleep and I'm kind of rambling, which again, isn't like me—"

"Jae, don't forget to breathe." Wonpil laughs and Jae nods, taking a deep breath in and stays silent for a few beats.

"Hey Jae, what's your favorite color?" Wonpil asks, taking another piece of cake and lifting it up to his mouth.

"Me? I—"

"No, the guy sitting next to you." Wonpil laughs as he sees Jae roll his eyes, both of them remembering the same line from a day ago.

"That's my line, don't steal it, I'm trademarking it and making a patent for it." Jae sips on his drink again. "Red. I like the color red."

"Really? I thought you were more of a blue person."

"Well, you thought wrong, I guess."

Wonpil raises an eyebrow at him before his eyes light up, an idea popping into his head. "Let's play a game."

"A game? Like 20 questions or something?"

"Nah, 20 questions is lame." Wonpil giggles. "I'm thinking we both make guesses as detailed as we can about each other, minus the stuff we already know. Like, first impression, what kind of person am I, what do I do on my free time, what kind of movies I watch etcetera. Then we see how much of the guesses are right." Wonpil explains and Jae hums, nodding his head.

"Interesting. This is new. It's nice. I like it. Let me start this time."

"Sure."

"First of all, first impression? You have no sense of direction."

"Hey! It's not my fault Dowoon is literally the worst at giving directions." Wonpil retorts, pouting. Jae laughs.

"Well, Kim Wonpil, I think you're the kind of guy that literally reflects the sun. I bet your friends call you the sun."

"No, they call me annoying." Wonpil deadpans and Jae blinks. "But some people _have_  called me a sunshine so I'll give you a pass on that."

"Cool." Jae continues. "I can't shake the fact that I thought you were a pianist so I'll just say you know how to play the piano, and you're really talented at that. You also probably know how to sing, maybe a little bit of dancing. You can't draw. You also probably cannot cook for the life of you and you rely on take out. You try to work out, but you don't take it seriously. "

"Sorry, are you guessing or dissing me?" Wonpil jokingly accuses, a smile on his face.

"Hey, I don't know you that well yet but if you're offended that's not on me."

"Whatever. Go on, hyung." Wonpil draws out the last syllable of the word and Jae coughs.

"I—okay." Jae hums in thought. "You're the baby of the group. Even if you aren't the youngest, they coddle you."

"It's the pouting, isn't it?"

"Maybe. Anyway, I think you're very emotional, you're expressive. You smile a lot, you laugh a lot, you cry when you feel like crying and you hold no shame in doing so. You like romcoms. Your music taste is expansive and you're very open in expanding it even further.

"The people close to you, you treat them as one of your own. You treat them like family. You care probably a bit too much, but you don't regret caring and worrying a lot because you love them. You're probably someone who enjoys walks both day and night, spontaneously going into convenience stores and buying whatever you want for a midnight binge. You're someone who binges series after series with ice cream and probably a stuffed toy and about 2 blankets wrapped around you.

"You're... you're a very warm person. Even as a stranger to you, they feel the warmth in your presence, your voice, your smile. It doesn't help that you seem like a person that would laugh at everything and anything and nothing. All at once." Jae breathes in. "You make people at ease with just you being in the room." Jae chuckles with an undertone of embarrassment that he brushes off. "That's based on experience."

"I—" Wonpil tries to speak up but Jae apparently wasn't done.

"I think—and I rarely talk about something like this, let alone to _and_ about someone I met a day ago—when you love, you fall hard. You make heart eyes at them, you want to... you have the biggest urge to protect them . " Jae's eyes flicker to his, narrowing as if he knows something Wonpil doesn't.

"What?"

"Do you believe in soulmates, Wonpil?"

And Wonpil's eyes widen at the question, his heart beating slightly faster. "W-why..." He laughs awkwardly. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, you just seemed like someone who would. You look like you rely on fate a lot, spending a lot of time believing that a major aspect of your life is meant to be." Jae smiles at him, and it wasn't anything bad. No trace of mockery or disbelief or whatever.

"I...I do. I actually really do."

"That's cute. I respect that. Guess it's easier to find a way of your own with a guide and something to ground you rather than grasping in the dark."

"It's reassuring." Wonpil shifts under Jae's gaze. "Are you done? Is it my turn?"

"Aren't going to tell me which ones I got right?"

"Later." Wonpil grins. "So, here is my conclusion about Park Jaehyung-ssi."

Jae snickers at the honorific and Wonpil laughs too, before he claps his hands together and breathes out. "My first impression on you was that you're very welcoming. You're someone who wants to make people at ease with your presence and you do that really well. Personal experience.

"I think it's easy for people to mistake you as a jerk, or a freeloader but you're actually very passionate about your work. People will have to do a double take before they even consider you as an active kind of person—sporty. I bet you play basketball."

"Among other things, yes." Jae replies, impressed.

"You play with people's hearts?"

And the surprise and disbelief on Jae's face was almost comical. "Hell no. I respect people's feelings. I don't—I'm no heartbreaker."

"Yeah, you don't seem like it." Wonpil smiles — he doesn't think the smile on his face ever fell though. He continues. "You're someone who would take people on an adventure, at the same time you're someone who'd rather stay in bed like a burrito, avoiding all human interaction if possible. You would binge watch, neglecting the time and by the time you snap out of it, it would be 4 am and you'd either go to sleep or order a box of pizza. You're also very clumsy, sometimes spacing out a lot.

"You're very curious. You're an intellectual, I think. I get that feel from you. Like the nerdy, read books a lot. Probably a books over movie kind of person. You also try and tell yourself you aren't emotional and you can handle your emotions and that's true! But you can break, cry a bit before telling yourself to call it a day and leave it at that."

"You're right, this does feel like a diss." Jae interrupts.

"Yeah. I—quote, unquote— _don't know you that well yet but if you're offended that's not on me._ " Wonpil laughs and Jae pouts. _Oh no, that's cute._

"Stop taking my lines."

"They're good quotes!" Wonpil clears his throat, grabbing his tumbler and gulps down the water. "Anyways, back to where I was." He hums, tapping a finger on his chin.

"You have a really nice voice, I'm never taking that back." Wonpil says, looking at Jae and carefully choosing his words. "If you had something to say about my fingers and what instrument I _probably_  play, then you look like someone who plays the guitar as a hobby and you're very creative at it. You're really good at it too. You're very talented at what you do and the passion I mentioned earlier makes it shine even brighter but...you don't think that way. You can't even accept my compliments without thinking that someone else is better than you."

"Okay—"

"No, wait." Wonpil holds his hands out in front of him and Jae looks at him with a calculated look. "Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"I know. It's just—okay. Are you done though?"

"No." Wonpil tries to smile and he wants to wipe off the indistinguishable look on Jae's face. "You're a very soft person, Jae. You treat people kindly, you don't—can't, probably—hold grudges at anyone, no matter how much they hurt you. You can get mad—and _god forbid_ anyone get you mad—because when you do, the other person will feel the guilt sink deep in their bones. You're very kind and you stick to your own beliefs and you try your best in bettering yourself for yourself and for others, and you're very creative in how you do it. And I bet you have a logical explanation for that." Wonpil takes a deep breath, bringing out a laugh from Jae.

"That was way more detailed than I expected." Wonpil says after a while, making Jae chuckle again and he can't help but feel relieved because he thought he messed up big time by bringing up the compliment thing.

"That's how it's supposed to be." Jae shoots back.

"Are you gonna tell me how much I got right?"

"Maybe next time. Maybe we can see for ourselves by meeting up more often. Also, I think I see the sun rising." Jae laughs, finishing off whatever it was he ordered.

" _What?_ "

\---

"Hyung?"

Jae lifts his head up from his book and smiles to see Younghyun, whose hands were occupied by bags with tupperwares of food and Jae assumes that it was probably from that chinese takeout place somewhere down the block.

"Hey, Hyun." The younger beams back at him and settles down on the floor in front of him, placing down the tupperwares on the coffee table as he does it. Jae mutters a little thanks, helping him out before sliding down to floor as well. "Where's Sungjin?"

"He said he'll catch up later at the shop." Jae nods in reply, taking out the disposable chopsticks from the bag and breaking them apart. "How's the track?"

"I don't know. I'm so close to scrapping it because I don't think I'm getting anywhere."

"Hey, you'll get there. I believe you will. Anyway," Younghyun takes out his own pair of chopsticks, popping open a tupperware filled to the brim with saucy noodles topped with a few pieces of dimsum. "Have you heard from your little crush again?"

"Little crush— _oh_. Younghyun, no."

"No?"

"He's not _my little crush_ —"

"Oh, so it's the falling hard kind of thing already?"

" _No._  It's—"

"Nothing like that?" Younghyun raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes." Jae almost hisses out, exasperated.

"Okay." Jae looks away from him and takes his own tupperware and —  _oh, jjajangmyeon_.

"You do know that I'm still calling you stupid for not getting his number in the middle of talking for 3 hours in a coffee shop."

"In my defense, it _was_  3 am and the entire situation was kind of unnerving."

Younghyun looks straight at him and Jae sighs. "If I asked you the what kind of person I am on only our second meeting, what would you say?"

"All the wrong things." Younghyun says without hesitation.

"Exactly."

...

"Ever heard of soulmates, hyung?"

"Yes. Duh, you keep going off about how you think Sungjin is yours, it's impossible that I don't hear about soulmates."

"Then maybe—"

"He's mine?" Jae actually laughs, incredulous. "Hyun, I don't believe in that."

"Just because you don't believe in it doesn't mean it isn't a thing. It's like God."

"Like God. Good analogy."

"Yup."

They fall silent at that, the only sound heard is the slurping of noodles and soft chewing as the two of them scrolled through their own phones.

"Hyung?"

"Yeah?"

"Was he cute?"

Jae stops chewing and looks at the younger. "Why?"

"Curious."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" And Younghyun's eyebrow was raised again and Jae may or may not be considering to tape his eyebrows down.

"Okay, so maybe he really is. He has this consistent doe-eyed look and he pouts so much that it's probably involuntary at this point—God, now I'm just thinking can he _stop_ being cute?"

Younghyun stares at him, mouth full. "Wow."

"Yeah, wow." Jae sighs, putting down his chopsticks and running a hand through his hair.

"That's not a bad re-starting point. Title worthy even."

"What?"

"Stop being cute?" Jae pauses.

"Kang Younghyun, you genius son of a gun." 

\---

The bell rings and Wonpil's eyes immediately look at the counter, expecting Jae to be sitting there, probably reading a book or something. Instead, he was greeted by someone else and he tries his best not to be disappointed.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you today?"

"Uh, hi." _Should he ask about Jae or—_ "I was..."

"Was..?" The new guy looks at him and his eyes light up. "Are you looking for Jae?"

"Wh—" Wonpil stutters, words leaving him speechless because— "Is telekinesis your thing?"

"What?"

"Nothing, I just—yes. I was looking for him. How did you know?" The guy grins and Wonpil fights the urge to frown. The guy gestures to his eyes. "He said something about the eyes."

"He...said something about me?"

"Yup. Though, I don't know if he'd appreciate me being a snitch so I'll call him. For you. In the meantime though, feel free to play the piano."

"Did he tell you everything?" Wonpil asks, settling down on the piano bench and shrugging off his coat.

"Probably not."

Wonpil nods and faces the piano. He settles his hands on the keys, humming and thinking of a song to play.

He starts, slow and steady. His eyes close and all he can sense was the music. He plays a bit faster before slowing, almost in a teasing way and he hums just under his breath, barely audible.

He strikes the next chord and he makes it incredibly softer, opening his mouth to sing and he lets loose. He sings the song from his heart, lyrics coming to him naturally and he sings, his voice speeding up, slowing down, getting louder or softer when needed.

He reaches the chorus and his eyebrows furrow with emotion, reaching higher notes, his hands never ceasing movement. It flies across the ivory, chord patterns basically muscle memory to him at this point.

The song slows to a stop and he ends it with yet another soft twinkle of notes. He breathes out, opening his eyes.

"Huh. I knew I got that on point."

Wonpil jumps, yelping and he hears the very familiar laughter of Jae. He turns around in his seat, eyes wide and a hand on his chest. Jae was leaning on the doorframe behind the counter which the younger remembers Jae telling him as the doorway to the workshop. He had an apron on, his glasses on his nose and his hair slightly disheveled. "Did I scare you?"

"I don't think so, what do you think?"

"Not really." Jae walks forward to the counter. "So, I guess I'm absolutely on point when I said you're really talented with the piano and that you have a really good voice."

Wonpil hums. "Hey, sit beside me."

"Why?"

"Just," He moves and pats the now empty space on the bench. "Here."

"Again, why?"

"Just come here, Jae. I won't bite." Wonpil kind of whines, making Jae laugh and walk forward anyway.

"You're taking up my break time, you know?"

"That's okay. I'll treat you to lunch next time."

"I'm gonna hold you to that." Jae finally reaches Wonpil and sits down. The younger can smell the wood mixing in with the scent of Jae's perfume.

"I don't break promises." Wonpil smiles. "What songs do you know that I probably can play on the piano?"

"Why—"

"Stop asking why, I might actually just be sad. Gimme a song." Wonpil pouts.

"We wouldn't want you getting sad now, would we?" Jae hums. "There's this song in my head that I don't remember the name of."

"Hum it."

"What?"

"Hum the tune, maybe I know it."

"I—o-okay?" Jae stutters before letting out an awkward chuckle. He clears his throat and Wonpil looks at him patiently.

He starts and Wonpil immediately knows what song it was. He lets Jae hum for a few more seconds though, just for the sake of enjoying the sound of it.

Jae looks at him after, waiting for Wonpil to reply but the younger wordlessly starts playing the song. The tune was mellow, soft and familiar, enveloping the pair in this weird bubble of just the two of them. Wonpil looks at him with this somehow knowing look and Jae sucks in a breath, before they both unknowingly close their eyes and let themselves be lost in the melody.

 _Oraenmaniya_  
_Meonjeo yeonragi ol jureun mollasseo_

And the song flows between them, as if they were part of the song themselves. They were in harmony and somewhere within, Wonpil hears that metaphorical sound of a bell and his heart thrums in anticipation.

He sings too, focusing on the music and at the same time, the warmth Jae somehow soaks into him through the 5 centimeter distance and all the layers of clothes between them. It was a warmth that spread through fast from the point of—there was no point of contact—but he guesses it was from the proximity. He starts to feel warm all over as the song slows, reaching the ending.

Wonpil guesses songs have always been this kind of weird, explosive ride for him. He doesn't really know how to explain it but somewhere along the line, his brain supplies that his whole experience that had Jae in it was similar in a way. Slow, like the casual smiles thrown at each other during the time Dowoon got Wonpil lost and then comes the build up. Wonpil remembers the time they spent in the coffee shop at the most ungodly hours. The chorus is where everything explodes — emotions, feelings, questions either of them are too scared to ask, topics too unsure to approach. But the ending is what baffles Wonpil the most.

He wonders what kind of ending they'll have.

 _Maybe_ , he thinks, _maybe it's a bit too early to think of endings._

He hopes it's a good one anyway.

He breathes out slowly, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat and he takes a peek at Jae, who looked like he was just waking up from a daydream.

"You two make a good pair."

Wonpil jumps (again), and Jae sighs. They both look behind them to see two people standing behind the counter, their positions comfortable as if they've been there for a while now (they probably were).

"You two do too, sneaky bastards." Jae shoots back. The pair in question laughs, returning their attention back to Wonpil.

"You must be Wonpil?" The guy with a really familiar voice says. "I'm Sungjin."

"Oh! I've heard of you." Wonpil says and the guy's—Sungjin's eyes get comically larger, looking back at Jae.

"You told him about me?"

"Unintentionally."

"How about me? I'm Kang Younghyun, best friend, official annoyer of Park Jaehyung."

"No, sorry Kang." Jae answers for him and Younghyun pouts.

"Meanie. I can't believe you treat me like this. You wound me, hyung." He places a hand over his chest dramatically. Jae waves him off and Younghyun laughs.

"We'll leave you two for now, but your break's over, Jae."

"Not even a hyung?"

"Jae _hyung_. We'll wait for you at the workshop." And with that, the two of them disappear behind the door.

"So," Wonpil says, picking up his coat. "Are you free Friday?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Maybe. Also, we still need to know how much we got right from that game we played before. I just thought that maybe _maybe_  it's better to experience and figure it out up close?" Wonpil tries and Jae had an amused look on his face.

"Well, you're not wrong. Hell, why not. Sure."

"Cool." Wonpil stands up and Jae does too, making a move to walk towards the counter before he turns around and faces Wonpil again.

"Before I hear Younghyun scream my ear off about being an idiot, can I have your number?"

" _Oh right_." Wonpil takes his phone out and hands it to Jae, who accepts and enters his phone number in.

"My phone is at the workshop, so just ring me, yeah? Tell me details for Friday." Jae says and that smile was back. Wonpil nods.

Yeah, Wonpil believes in soulmates. And now he believes to have met them.

**Author's Note:**

> "I mean, who manages to explain your entire personality in like the 3 hours you've spent together? At most?"
> 
> "I don't know, hyung—" 
> 
> "Don't tell me you still don't believe." 
> 
> "Jae hyung will be here any minute now so _please_ —for his sake and the sake of this date of yours—start getting ready." 
> 
> "Right. Thanks for listening, Woon. Love you, I'll buy you a gift and I'll walk your dog—"
> 
> "Yeah, yeah. Just go."
> 
>  
> 
> also wow i managed to write 7k?? me?? in a one shot?? word vomit
> 
> gasp i forgot,, listen to raindrops, coffee&betterdays, and stop being cute if you can. 
> 
> anyway yell at me, tell me what u think, swing by and say how much u dont like it i dont mind in my [twt](www.twitter.com/pjhyngs) as usual


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